Cloward, Richard

Extract

Cloward, Richard (25 December 1926–20 August 2001), sociologist, social worker, and an architect of the welfare rights movement, was born in Rochester, New York, the son of Donald Cloward, a radical Baptist minister, and Ester Fleming, an artist and feminist. Donald Cloward had trained in the social gospel tradition at Colgate Rochester Divinity School, and both he and Esther shared a passion for social justice, which they passed on to their son. Richard Cloward graduated from high school in Auburn, New York, in 1943 and served as an ensign in the U.S. Navy during World War II from 1944 to 1946. He received a B.A. in sociology from the University of Rochester in 1949. While attending the University of Rochester, Cloward cofounded an interracial day camp and a settlement house known as Hubbell House....